There's No Secret Hack for Reclaiming Your Attention

Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

The Secret is There is No Secret

The data and anecdata line up on this one: people are reading less and having a harder time focusing on books. The solution is simple but not easy: just do it. That’s the crux of this five-step plan for reclaiming your attention , and I appreciate that it begins with reminding yourself why you’re setting out to read deeply. There really is no secret, no hack, no shortcut. If you want to be a person who spends sustained periods of time reading books, you have to spend sustained periods of time reading books. One page counts. Want more tips? We’ve got you covered.

It’s Complicated

Mark Oppenheimer’s biography of Judy Blume was going to generate a lot of media heat anyway, but the news that Blume—who participated in interviews, provided Oppenheimer with personal documents, and connected him to dozens of sources— is declining to comment on the book will surely activate the Streisand effect. Rather than speculate about what might have happened, I’ll encourage you to read Elisabeth Egan’s full piece here.

Your Regular Reminder That Books Have Always Been Political

More than 194 library systems throughout Washington, Oregon, and California have collaborated to create the largest book club on the west coast. One Book, One Coast is "a shared community reading program that celebrates literacy, learning, community, and civil discourse." The book they’ve chosen speaks volumes: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei recounts the author, actor, and activist’s experience being imprisoned in an American concentration camp during World War II. Physical copies of the book are available at all participating libraries, and unlimited digital copies of the ebook will be available in both English and Spanish from April 1 through June 6 on the Libby app by Overdrive. May their efforts succeed.

Read Harder This Women’s History Month

March is Women’s History Month, so today, I thought I’d share some recommendations for books about women in history that also complete 2026 Read Harder Challenge  tasks. We have memoirs and biographies about famous women in history, little-known women’s history, and books about women making history today.